Early childhood professionals know the many benefits of physical activity and play. They understand that young children are experiential learners, that they need to move, and children move to learn.

Benefits of physical activity for children and youth include:

  • chronic disease risk reduction
  • documented academic and exam performance increases
  • documented increases in student independence and maturity
  • obesity risk reduction
  • enhanced cognitive function
  • enhanced body image and self-esteem

Children should accumulate at least 60 minutes of physical activity on a daily basis, in a variety of different types and intensities of movement.

Why Movement?
 
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The following are 10 reasons according to Rae Pica (nationally known movement educational specialist) as to why educators should use movement and active learning to promote emergent literacy:
  1. Children learn best through active involvement (example: prepositions)
  2. Spatial orientation is necessary for letter identification and orientation of symbols on a page
  3. Actively experiencing the rhythm of words and sentences helps children find the rhythm necessary for reading and writing.
  4. When children demonstrate the meaning of words physically, their understanding of the words is immediate and long-lasting.
  5. Adverbs and adjectives become much more than abstract concepts.
  6. Playing together provides opportunities for children to speak and listen to one another.
  7. Stringing actions together to form sequences is similar to linking words to form sentences.
  8. When children act out the words of a poem, the plot of a story, or the lyrics of a song, they must ponder the meanings of the words.
  9. Movement activities provide opportunities to cross the body's mid-line which requires integration of the brain's hemispheres.
  10. Confucius said it best: "What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I know."